TAIPEI: Typhoon Gaemi blew through northern Taiwan on Thursday (Jul 25), killing two people, bringing floods and leading to traffic snarls, before heading across the sea and into China where it is expected to bring further torrential rain.
Gaemi made landfall around midnight on the northeastern coast of Taiwan in Yilan county. It is the strongest typhoon to hit the island in eight years and was packing gusts of up to 227kmh before weakening, according to the Central Weather Administration.
As of 8.30am local time, it was in the Taiwan Strait and heading toward Fuzhou in China’s Fujian province.
It is expected to bring further rain across Taiwan, with offices and schools as well as the financial markets closed for a second day on Thursday.
Trains, including the high-speed line linking northern and southern Taiwan, will be closed until 3pm, with all domestic flights and 185 international flights cancelled for the day.
Two people have died and 266 were injured due to the typhoon, the government said. Taiwanese television stations showed pictures of flooded streets in cities and counties across the island.
